Highlights in residential and commercial real estate

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This home at 709 First Street in Coronado was a notable real estate sale in the first half of 2014. Photo courtesy of Scott Aurich/Pacific Sotheby's International Realty

Home prices continued an upward trend in the first half of 2014 while the number of foreclosures declined from 2013 and the mortgage market returned to a majority purchase market.

Home prices up, foreclosures down

Home prices in the San Diego metro area were up 15.3 percent in April from April 2013, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Lenders issued notices of default to 427 borrowers in May, down 41.3 percent from May 2013; and trustee deeds were filed on 150 properties in May, down 45.3 percent from May 2013, according to the San Diego County Assessor's Office.

Mortgage market sees drop in refinance share of activity

Mortgage applications returned to a "majority purchase market" for the first time since 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey in May.

San Diego County’s assessed value up 6 percent

The 2014 assessed value of all taxable property has increased by 6 percent, or $24.6 billion, from last year, said San Diego County Assessor Ernie Dronenburg. The property was valued as of Jan. 1 and this year’s total assessed value is $433.4 billion. It would produce approximately $4.17 billion in property taxes based on a 1 percent tax rate.

Some notable residential sales in the first half of 2014:

*John K. Swanson and Robert B. Swanson, co-trustees, sold a house at 2828 Ocean Front in Del Mar for $8 million to Matt Coleman and Laurie J. Coleman on March 3.

* Dawn R. Davidson, trustee, sold a house at 6350 Camino De La Costa in La Jolla for $23.51 million to Moses Property LLC on March 25.

* Jackman Industries sold a house at 709 First St. for $10.25 million to J. Scott Benson, trustee, on May 15.

-Compiled by Samantha Henry, The Daily Transcript.

Notable commercial real estate sales

Some big commercial property sales occurred and Mission Valley still has room to grow.

Starwood Capital makes major purchase in San DiegoIn January, Starwood Capital paid $327 million for nearly 1.1 million square feet of office and industrial buildings in Sorrento Mesa and Carmel Mountain Ranch in two transactions with Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC). The largest building in this pool was the 318,000-square-foot Pacific Corporate Center at 10020 Pacific Mesa Blvd. in Sorrento Mesa that is 100 percent leased to Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH).

Office salesIn March, a partnership of Equity Group Investments and San Diego-based Parallel Capital Partners paid $72.5 million for the three-building, 278,787-square-foot Wateridge Plaza office complex on Wateridge Circle in Sorrento Mesa.

In June, a partnership of DRA Advisors and Cypress Office Properties paid $40.15 million for a three-property, 191,200-square-foot office portfolio on Pacific Center Drive and Huennekens Street in Sorrento Mesa.

Petco Animal Supplies (Nasdaq: PETC), which paid $33.08 million to acquire a 303,000-square-foot industrial building at 10850 Via Frontera in Rancho Bernardo, plans to transform and consolidate multiple locations into its new corporate headquarters. Kilroy Realty was the seller.

Lane Field comes to lifeThis past spring also saw the groundbreaking for the first two Lane Field hotels on May 8. Initial plans call for a $130 million dual-branded property with a 253-room SpringHill Suites and a 147-room Residence Inn, in addition to approximately 27,000 square feet of retail space and more than 400 parking spaces. The hotels will be built on a 50-foot-tall podium.

Growth in Mission Valley

Looking to the future, just when many people might have thought that Mission Valley was virtually built out, several large plans in addition to Sudberry Properties' huge Civita masterplan have begun to be revealed.

Civita, incidentally, is slated to have 900,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space along with its nearly 4,800 residential units. Just outside of Civita at Qualcomm Way and Camino del Rio North is a three-acre Sudberry property known as Discovery Place that is large enough for a 125-room hotel and about 6,000 square feet of retail.